


Tea House

by DeadlyPlushie



Series: Tea House [1]
Category: The Misfits (Podcast)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-28
Updated: 2019-01-28
Packaged: 2019-10-18 12:20:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,657
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17580731
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeadlyPlushie/pseuds/DeadlyPlushie
Summary: This tea is a little off... but the place it came from is even more so.





	1. Prologue

  
My first week or so of summer certainly did not go as I had planned. I could feel my phone buzz in my pocket as I left my dorm for the last time until fall. In urgent letters a text read out

 

**“Something happened. Call me as soon as you can. -Mom”**

  
My I could feel my heart rise up in my throat as panic started to set in. All I wanted to worry about was what game to play first over break, but as I sprinted as quickly as I could to the hospital all those thoughts took a back seat. After asking various nurses which way to the room and dodging patients left and right I found myself in a cramped room with my family surrounding a single bed. Lying there with eyes shut was my grandpa, pale and breathing slow. They said it was a heart attack. My mom buried her head into my dad’s shoulder while I made my way to his side. I knelt by my grandpa’s bed and took his hand as gently as I could. His eyes slowly fluttered open.

“Lucas…” My name was cut off by the sudden burst of coughs.

“Take it easy grandpa. You’re going to be alright.”  
“Don’t lie to me kid.”  
A heartbroken chuckle escaped from my throat. On his deathbed and he was still as blunt as ever. I admired that about him. He never took shit from anyone, but still managed to be one of the kindest people I ever knew. I turned back to see my family behind me. My mother lightly sobbed into my dad’s arms.

“It’s alright. I had a good run. I went on all sorts of adventures, I fell in love, had a daughter, and watched her grandchildren grow up. I’ve had a full life.”

He said this proudly through another small fit of coughs and then leaned in.

“I know I don’t have too much longer, but I want to ask you to do something for this old man’s last wish.”

“Yeah, yeah of course.”  
His grip got tight on my hand as he pulled me in closer.

“My shop. I want you to look after it.”  
My stomach dropped harder than a roller coaster in a cartoon theme park.

“You-”  
“It doesn’t have to be forever. Just a year in the least if you don’t want the position. But please, please make sure that is given proper care after I’m gone.”

I had only been there a few times as a kid, but the Tea Shop was his treasure. He built it from the ground up and looked after it before he even met my grandma. I figured he would have wanted it to continue on so he could leave his mark per say, but me?

“Promise me kiddo?”

I shook my head. “Yeah. I promise.”

He smiled up at me and winked.

“See you on the other side.” Everything had  happened so quickly, and it ended just as fast.

The funeral wasn’t much. Whoever in the family that showed up came in their black button downs and dripping mascara. I didn’t cry when I said my goodbyes. I think it was all just shock. I hadn’t been the closest with my grandpa in the last few years, but I had a lot of good times with him as a kid. Nights when he would take my cousins and I out camping and he would tell us the most ridiculous stories around the campfire. Christmas nights when he would make special drinks at the family party. The adults got whatever special tea he decided to bring over, but the kids got the best hot chocolate you could ever dream of. He would bring toppings too. Peppermint, Chocolate shavings, whipped cream you name it. He would spend more time with the kids than the adults. Helping us play hide and seek and keeping us from getting into trouble that would leave permanent damage. But he was the kind of guy who believed if you didn’t get into trouble every now and again and break some rules, then it wasn’t really a life worth living. Needless to say my parents wouldn’t let him babysit often.

I could still hear him laughing at the little pranks we would pull together.

But now the air was eerily silent. It was like the world felt just a little bit emptier without him being in it. One less star in the sky to show the lighter side of things. I didn’t leave my room too often that week since moving back home. Only when I had to go to the bathroom or really needed food. Every now and then I’d watch something or play some games to get my mind off of things, but it just hurt knowing that he wasn’t coming back. 

Once I had officially eaten everything left in the fridge my dad came in to talk to me. Told me to go check out the Tea Shop like grandpa asked. Maybe get some closure. He gave me a small hug, a pat on the back, and left me in my room once more. I honestly didn’t know if I was ready to manage a tea shop let alone want to manage it.I had been working on majoring in graphic design, not how to make chai tea lattes. I didn’t know if I would actually stay a full year or not like he had asked, but the least I could do was check it out.  There probably wasn’t much to it. It was just leaves and hot water. 

 

_Nothing too special about it…right?_


	2. The New Old House

The next day I packed up my things and started my road trip to the old tea house.  
It wasn’t too far from my parent’s house. Maybe a two hour drive or so. I stocked up on potato chips and energy drinks nonetheless and readied myself for the inevitable flood of fatigue and memories. About an hour in I was already bored out of my mind. I still couldn’t wrap my mind around the thought of grandpa being gone. Like, actually gone. I would never get to see him again. Never get to laugh with him again. For lack of better words- it sucked.Life sucked. What was even the point of being on earth if we’re all just gonna die anyways? I tried to shake the thoughts of existential crisis out of my head before I had a panic attack on the road. I really needed a nap, and maybe some dinner that wasn’t sour cream and onion chips.

It was getting harder to focus as my eyes got tired and the sun continued to set. I picked up my monster energy and took a swig of the last of it. The path ahead was on was narrow, windy, and practically in the woods. Looking out my side window and down I could see the whole town below me. It seemed small and vacant as the stores and houses began to turn on their lights for the night.

It was weird to think about, having to live in a town that looked as dead as grandpa. I felt my stomach drop after thinking of such a stupid comparison. As I came to the top of the ridiculously steep hill in the middle of essentially nowhere I pulled in front of a large and locked Gothic looking. I got out of my car and fumbled around in his back pocket for the key ring grandpa had left behind. Trying each key until the lock came undone with a satisfying thunk I pushed the gates aside. A chill ran up my spine as a breeze wafted past me. It was weird. It was the beginning of June, why did it have to feel chillier up here? I brushed it off and continued to drive the car inwards and parked it on the lawn. The tea house had always been big to me as a kid, but I forgot how big the place actually was.

“Holy…” I stared up at the place for a second or two before actually walking up to the door. It was like something out of an old movie. Albeit probably a horror film. The place was about three stories high with shingles falling off the side and a broken window or two.  
“So… it’s a fixer upper now too huh?” I sighed. Going through each individual key yet again I unlocked the front door with a yawn and stepped inside.

The place was a wreck. Dust and grime all over what used to be the cafe area of the house. It was like it hadn’t been used since I was here last. Cobwebs covering chairs and tables, filth on the counter and shelves that held jars of herbs and spices. I continued through the musty entrance and up the creaking stairs to the living area. I had the key to every room and knew that grandpa’s was probably the grandest, but it didn’t feel right taking his room just yet- if at all. After getting the door to the guest room unstuck I took off the old blankets from the bed and threw my stuff on top. I sat down for only a minute or so before my stomach had started growling at me.

“Fuuuuck, come on. Chips weren’t enough for you?” I whined to myself. I knew that if grandpa had any food left here it would’ve been spoiled. I whipped my phone out to see if there was any pizza places nearby, but the stupid town was so small that I couldn’t even pull it up on google maps. I threw my head back and groaned before going back downstairs and back into my car.

“Guess it’s time to explore…”

The ride back down the hill and into the town was a pretty fast one which was nice, but everything down there just looked empty. They did have a pizza place, but it didn’t look like anyone was inside. The only thing around that was lit up was a seven eleven. I parked around the side and tapped my back pocket making sure my wallet was secure. The only person inside was the cashier who looked like he desperately like he needed a nap. When his eyes weren’t slowly shutting and frantically opening back up he watched me pick out various microwave meals and a liter of Dr.Pepper. I could feel his judgement burning into the back of my skull the whole time. Once I reached the counter he smirked.  
“This it?” He asked in a sarcastic tone.

“Yes it is, and it sure as hell seems like the most business you’ve gotten all day, so could you please just ring me up?”

I spoke with a lot more bite than I intended, but I was tired, hungry, and really didn’t feel like putting up with this guy. But instead of getting mad, he just laughed.

“Yeah, you’re right. We don’t get a lot of shoppers here during the day. It’s pretty boring. You staying here for a few days or something?”

I instantly felt a bit bad for how I responded to him.

“I, uh, yeah. Something like that. Sorry I’m just really tired. It’s been a long week.”

The cashier just waved his hand and scanned my items.

“Don’t worry about it dude. Trust me, I’ve gotten a lot of worse customers. And when I’m tired? Oof. It really isn’t pretty then.”

I blinked in surprise as I handed him my cash. Really? He wasn’t tired? The guy who was nearly falling asleep at the counter a few minutes ago?

“I’m John by the way.”  
“Lucas.” I replied putting little energy into a friendly smile.

“So what you in town for then? We don’t get tourists around here for very long.”

My face dropped again a little as he handed my my receipt.

“It’s… kinda personal stuff. I’m actually staying up at the old tea house on the hill.” I didn’t really want to mention that the owner was my grandpa just because I was too exhausted mentally and emotionally to go through his whole story, but I could see John’s face start to drop as well.

“The Tea House? You’re… staying there?” He sounded shocked. I gave a small nod and took my plastic bags filled with hot pockets and lean cuisines and started to head out the door.

“Wait why?” He called back. I groaned. John seemed nice enough but I really just wanted to eat or else I was going to fall over.

“I live there now. The owner passed away and he left the place to me. Look I really just want to go eat man. Thanks for the stuff, I’ll probably see you around.”

I went around the side and hopped back into the car. My headlights sprang to life and I made my way back up the hill, stomach practically yelling as I made my way. Back through the gates and the musty hall I went back into the kitchen. It smelled like dust, but I went through and popped a meal into the microwave. I prayed that the electrical systems wouldn’t fail before my hot pockets were at least lukewarm. After a minute or so the microwave dinged and a small puff of steam wafted out. I shook my hand after grabbing the plate and almost burning my fingers. I blew on the pockets as the sat in the microwave and carefully tore them open to let out the heat. The wind outside began to pick up as I grabbed my snack and cleared off a table for myself. I popped them in my mouth hungrily one by one as I watched the branches on the trees outside whip around furiously. Where the fuck did this windstorm come from? I couldn’t help but get a weird feeling in my stomach as the wind howled around me. Maybe the seven eleven had food as freezer burned as grandpa’s. Feeling a slight tinge of panic race through me I went behind the tea counter and looked around. I wasn’t much of a tea drinker, but if there was something here to calm my nerves a bit then I’ll take it. Oddly enough, even though the shelves were dusty the jars keeping the mixes of tea were still crystal clear. Not a single spec of dust on any of them. This threw my head through a loop for a second, but I carried on. I grabbed a jar labeled ‘Mint’ and went back into the kitchen. Pulling open cabinet after cabinet I came across the mugs and smiled. I could see a familiar handle clear as day off to the side. I took it and pulled out a mug that said ‘#1 GRANPA’ in nearly illegible handwriting. I made this for him in kindergarten. I couldn’t believe that he still had it after all this time. After the water got hot enough I poured it into the sharpied dollar store mug and dipped my tea strainer inside. The smells of mint filled the room. It was enough to calm my nerves slightly just from the scent.

“LUCAS!” A voice shouted from outside. I nearly dropped the mug and jumped about a foot. I ran to the front door to find John standing on the front lawn, air whipping wildly around him and throwing his hair in every direction.

“John! What are you doing?” He was going to get himself killed out there!

“Get the fuck out of that house Lucas!”He screamed back.

“No! Are you insane?!” What was wrong with him? Why would he walk all the way up the hill through a windstorm to talk to me?

“You don’t deserve to be in that house!” He cried out.

“Old man Smitty would never give the shop to some twenty something kid! You’re a liar! Get out of there!”

I froze in the doorway.

“What?”

“Old Man Smitty cared about this place more than anything else,” John shrieked coming even closer. Shingles came flying off of the house left and right and the door was about ready to fly off its hinges.

“He wouldn’t leave! He can’t!” Through the wind and sounds of the house being torn apart it almost sounded like John’s screams were turning into cries. His face was becoming angrier by the second. Fearing for the house and for my life I ran back inside and took cover. I could hear footsteps pounding as John followed me inside. As he came through it was almost like the wind followed with him. I poked my head out from the kitchen doorway and got a good glimpse of him. His eyes. It was like they were burning. The glowed an almost magenta hue as he glared me down. I shook my head and convinced myself I was just hallucinating, but his eyes only grew brighter at my confusion. I ran through the kitchen and into the back corner. I remembered there being a back exit. I remembered wrong. I cornered myself with nothing more than a cup of tea to defend myself against this windy purple powerhouse.

“Why would he leave the estate to you? You don’t know a thing about this town!”

“Because he was my grandpa you dumb ass!” I cried out shielding my face from whatever windy punches he was about to throw, but the howling stopped. The air grew a bit more still.

“You’re…what?” I opened my eyes to see John as confused as I was, the glow in his eyes dimming.

“I’m his grandson. When he was in the hospital he asked me to take over for him!”

John took a step back before his eyes shone again.

“Smitty never had a family. He barely even left the shop!”

I extended my mug to him to show the poorly drawn label.

“Apparently he did seeing how I made this for him when I was six.”

He snatched the mug from my hands and glared.

“You’re a terrible liar.”

He took a gulp of my tea and slammed the mug on the counter next to us, nearly causing it to shatter. I was positive he was going to smash it again and stab me with the broken pieces, but he paused. The wind around us came to a screeching halt. He looked down at me, squatting in the corner for cover, and then back at the tea. Carefully this time, he took another sip. He looked like he was about to cry.

“Fuck…” He whispered. He looked back at me with heavy eyes.

“You really are his grandson…aren’t you?”

I nodded, terrified of whatever the hell was going on. John broke down and fell to his knees in defeat.

“It wasn’t as good as his…” He said, both hands on the mug now. “But I can definitely tell that you’re related. God I’m so fucking stupid. How could I not know that he had a family?”

He put the mug down on the ground and buried his face in his ringed hands. I knew that whatever just happened that nearly killed me and destroyed the house wasn’t normal, but I felt guilty. He obviously knew my grandpa somehow and didn’t know he was gone. And I just walk into his store buying frozen tv dinners and tell him that he died and I live in his shop now? I probably would’ve blown up too if I found out about grandpa that way.

I crawled over to him and put a hand on his shoulder.

“It-It’s alright dude. I’m sorry you had to find out like this.”

John looked up at the ceiling with a groan, wiping away a few tears.

“No I completely overreacted. Hell he’s your grandpa. You were probably way closer to him than I was.”

I shook my head. “Not really. I’d come to visit here as a kid sometimes, and he would come say hi for holidays and stuff, but other than that the man was a mystery.”

John chuckled. “Yeah, he really was wasn’t he?” He sighed and got up, extending his hand and pulling me up as well.

“Sorry about the house. I can fix it.”

It somehow completely blanked from my memory what had just happened.

“Oh yeah. You mind telling me what the hell just happened?” I nearly screamed.

John just laughed in reply fumbling around in his pockets. He pulled out a slip labeled ‘Crazy Racc’s Pizza’.

“It’s a long story my dude. Meet me there tomorrow for lunch and I’ll explain everything.”

And that was it. He never said another word. He pointed his finger at a few broken areas of the house and pieces floated back into their original spaces. I felt like I was dreaming or on some weird acid trip. Once the house was reassembled, looking almost better than it did before, John waved and made his way back down the hill. I gave a small wave back before my knees gave out from under me. I just fell to the ground and laid there, contemplating life.

“What the hell…”

And just like that I was out like a light, asleep on the dusty floor.


	3. Squeaky Clean

My head pounded on the hardwood floor as sunlight came in through the musty cafe windows.

“Fuuuck” I groaned keeping a hand on the back of my head.

“I guess I really did pass out in the front door.” I thought. Memories of what caused my fainting flooded back to me. The wind, the shouting- John. John with bright purple eyes and literally fixing the house back up with his _mind._ I really hoped that part at least was a dream. I looked down to find the coupon he had handed me before leaving. ‘Crazy Rac’s Pizza’.

But along with the coupon I found something I really hadn’t expected.

“Ew what the-” My shirt and my face were covered in some kind of… goo? Saliva? With a really strong mint scent. Needless to say I was way too confused for 9 am. 

I picked up the coupon and pulled off my shirt, wiping my face with it like a rag. I went upstairs to the living area of the house and into the bathroom. Thankfully this side of the house was fairly cleaned since grandpa actually used it daily. I took off the rest of my clothes and hopped into the shower hoping to get rid of the mint smell and all of the dust from the cafe floor. The warm water felt so nice as I closed my eyes and just let it cover me. I took a deep breath and started scrubbing the saliva off my face and arms when I started hearing things. It almost sounded like a chirping. I had assumed it was the shower or the pipes just creaking, but it wouldn’t stop. I turned the shower off and threw a towel around my waist. The chirping was quiet, but it was still there. Without the water pouring down I could hear it more clearly. It wasn’t just chirping, it almost sounded like purring? Or snoring? I carefully looked around the toilet and in the cabinets to see if any animal had snuck in while grandpa was in the hospital, but I found nothing. I shrugged it off and continued cleaning up instead. Unpacking a new toothbrush and brushing my teeth, drying my hair with the towel, throwing on clean clothes. The mirror was still kinda steamy so I tried to wipe it clean with the towel. That’s when I saw it. 

In the reflection of the mirror I could see some small creature stuck to the corner of the ceiling behind me. I spun around to see what looked like some kind of lizard? Although I had never seen a lizard the size of a cat before.

“Holy-” I yelped a little when I saw the thing. I guess it was napping while I was in the shower, but it was awake now. It looked at me with beady little eyes and let out a “SQUEE!” The thing jumped down onto me and latched onto my shirt. I instantly freaked out and fell backwards nearly hitting my head against the counter.

“GET OFF GET OFF GET OFF!” I panicked trying to pry the thing off of me, but in response it just licked my face with its long pink tongue. And once again, my face somehow smelled like mint?

“YOU!” I shouted at it. “YOU WERE THE THING LICKING ME ON THE CAFE FLOOR!” It let out another small squee in response, almost sounding…sorry? I calmed down a bit to see that the lizard thing wasn’t doing any harm. He was just hanging out on me. It was actually kinda cute. I hadn’t seen anything really like it before. It was light green in color with a long tail and beady little eyes that looked up at me expectantly.

“What? What do you want?”

It let out a squee once more and rubbed it’s head into my chest.

“Do you want me to… pet you?” Was this thing grandpa’s weird lizard dog? I hesitantly placed my hand on it’s back and started to stroke him. He happily chirped  back. Okay he actually was pretty cute. The smell of mint started to get stronger as I felt something starting to grow on his back. Tiny leaves started popping up from his scales. Mint leaves.

“…Okay?” I was very certain that this was not how mint was normally grown.

“Grandpa what the hell?” I scratched the lizard under his chin and a few more leaves popped up near his tail.

“What are you buddy? Do you live here? Were you grandpa’s pet?”

With no surprise of a lizard talking it just continued to look at me and rub itself into my hand.

“Look, you’re very cute and all but I’d rather not spend all day on the bathroom floor. Okay? Can I get up please?” The lizard stayed for a second, but then crawled off my body. “Thank you. You know for a lizard you’re pretty well behaved.” I propped myself back up by the counter and stood with the lizard at my feet.

“So… are you my roommate?”

It just licked it’s face.

“I’ll take that as a yes. Do you have a name?”

It only squeed again.

“I’ll call you Bappo.”

Bappo squeed back happily.

“Listen Bappo, I gotta go meet up with a friend okay? Think you can watch the place while I’m gone?”

He purred in his odd chirping tone. Could lizards purr? I knew they definitely couldn’t sprout leaves from their back. I walked out into the hall and pulled out my phone hoping I could google anything about the creature happily prancing next to me. Closest I got was a thing called an axolotl, but they were half his size and not green. I had no idea what he was, but he wasn’t doing anything harmful so I didn’t care too much. 

“Alright you minty axolotl thing don’t break the house while I’m gone. John just fixed it. Sorta.” Bappo leaped in response and met at my face, hovering there and licked me. And he stayed there. Hovering.

“So… you can float. Explains why you were on the ceiling. Anything else I need to know about before I lose my mind completely?”

Bappo chirped and butt heads with my playfully before floating onto the wall and staying there.

“Well okay then. Guess I’ll see you when I get back?”

“Squee!” He chirped happily and began running up the wall to the ceiling.

I sighed. “I made friends with a mint growing, floating axolotl cat. Great. Totally not insane. Nope.” I closed the door hoping that this wasn’t setting the bar for the rest of my day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> bit of a short chapter, but it helps meet someone new!


End file.
